1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an IC card, and particularly to an IC card which is not deformed even if external force is applied thereto.
2. Description of the Invention
FIGS. 6 A and 6 B care a plan view and a side view, respectively, illustrating a conventional IC card. In these drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes an IC card; reference numeral 2, a panel covering each of the front and the back sides of the IC card 1; and reference numeral 3, a frame of the IC card 1.
FIG. 7 is a plan view of a module 4 contained in the IC card 1. The module 4 comprises a circuit board 5, electronic parts 6 mounted on the circuit board 5, and a connector 7 connected to the circuit board 5 and electrically and mechanically connected to an external device (not shown). FIG. 8 is a schematic sectional side view taken along line A--A' of the IC card shown in FIG. 6A.
In the conventional IC card constructed as described above, the electronic parts 6 are first mounted on the circuit board 5, and the module 4 connected to the connector 7 is positioned and set in the frame 3. The panels 2 having adhesive sheets 8 adhered thereto are then fitted into the frame 3. Since the adhesive sheets 8 exhibit 1n intrinsic adhesive effect when heat and pressure are applied thereto, the panels 2 are adhered to the frame 3 by pressing and heating the panels 2.
In the above-described IC card, the electronic parts 6 have different heights in some cases, and a gap thus occurs between low electronic parts 6 and the panels 2. There is thus the problem that the panels 2 are deformed by a force applied to the electronic parts 6 when the panels 2 are pressed from outside. Even if the electronic parts are high without a gap between the electronic parts and the panels 2, a force is applied to the electronic pats 6 when the panels are pressed from the outside, thereby causing the problem of damage of the electronic parts, such as cracks in soldered leads (not shown) of the electronic parts 6.